The Enemy Within

Chapter 24

At 8 p.m. sharp they enter the club, with Tanya and Rohan leading the way hand-in-hand. The club is dimly lit but buzzing with activity. The décor is high-end and the patrons are mostly foreigners with a sprinkling of Indians. The music is blasting and people are milling around the bar area.

Jack walks up to the bar and orders drinks for all. He hears some of the foreign tourists talking in Spanish and he quickly joins in with a couple of quips in their native tongue. They are surprised and soon he becomes a part of their conversation. As he is chatting with them, Juan Carlos comes up and joins the group. He is introduced to Jack who speaks to him in fluent Spanish, much to his surprise. They are soon busy chatting. He then points towards the team's table and both of them head there.

Jack introduces them all, "Guys, this is the famous Spanish singer – Juan Carlos. Juan, this is Rohan, Tanya and Sunny."

They all shake hands and Juan speaks in heavy accented English with loud hand gestures, "So who are the two love birds.... Wait! Me guess!"

He points to Tanya and Rohan smiling, "Yes, it's you.... I can see love flowing."

Sunny nearly chokes on his beer as Tanya and Rohan smile uneasily and nod.

Juan smiles happily, "I sing first set.... Then we talk about wedding – okay Amigos?"

He rushes off and jumps onto the stage to perform his set as the crowd cheers raucously.

Rohan cups his hand to Jack's ear to be heard over the thumping music, "What did you tell him?"

Jack laughs, "He bought the love story – hook, line and sinker. He wasn't sure about singing at a wedding though, but when he heard it is a norm in India to have even big Bollywood stars perform at weddings, he was quite ok with it. Now we just need to steer him towards the Jaisalmer angle. If he gets uncomfortable in English, I will get him to speak in Spanish and translate, so we don't miss any important details." Rohan nods in agreement and chugs a beer, waiting for Juan to complete his song set.

Juan finishes to rapturous applause from the crowd. The place is buzzing with high energy as the DJ takes over with some EDM. Juan Carlos comes over to their table smiling, "So how you like my music tonight?"

Tanya clasps her hands faking joy, "It was brilliant. I can't wait for you to sing at our wedding. It will be absolutely wonderful."

"Well, I love India... Especially the ladies... Plenty beautiful." He takes Tanya's hand and kisses it as she blushes coyly.

Rohan picks up the cue immediately, "So have you visited any other places in India, or you came straight to Goa for the show?"

Juan shakes his head, "No, I land in Delhi. Then I do short tour of desert in Jai... Jai... What is the name? Then I come to Goa."

"Oh wow, you were in Jaisalmer... I just love that place. How was your trip there? Bet you really enjoyed that!"

Juan hesitates for a moment and Jack steps in smoothly. He speaks a couple of lines in Spanish and immediately Juan looks more comfortable. He rattles off some long sentences and Jack replies nodding.

Jack quickly translates for the others, "He says Delhi was nice and Rajasthan is a beautiful place. But he had a scary incident in Jaisalmer. While on the desert safari, he saw a man rolling down one of the dunes. He says they stopped the car and they ran up to the body, but the man was already dead."

The team fakes complete shock and awe while staring at Juan. He looks at them and nods while Jack translates. He looks sheepish, "Sorry, my English not very good."

Rohan pats his hand and says, "No problem, we understand how scared you must have been. Did you guys try to revive him?"

Juan again launches into a lengthy discourse with Jack, who nods and asks a few pertinent questions from time to time.

Then Jack translates, "He says one man was a doctor. He was an Indian but practicing abroad – a Dr. Nair from Bangkok he thinks. And the other was a Romanian archeologist named Raymond Leno. He was sitting with them on the back seat. He doesn't remember the name of the third guy, who was sitting in front with the driver."

Rohan leans forward, "Wow.... What a mixed bunch! Was the man alive or dead when they reached the body?"

Juan nods and says a few thing in Spanish to which Jack translates, "He says that he saw the man lying there. He was among the first to reach the body along with the doctor. The doctor tried to help him, but the man was beyond help. Then the others reached the spot and the driver insisted that they run back to the car and call the police."

Rohan looks at Juan in wonder, "Wow, Mr. Carlos, that's quite a story."

Just then the Emcee calls out to Juan to sing his next set and the crowd starts cheering. Juan excuses himself and leaves, promising to come back again.

Sunny looks around in excitement, "Looks like we have our next targets. We got the names of all 4 passengers now. Let's crack this thing wide open."

Rohan nods, "Yeah let's get out of here before he asks for an advance payment for the wedding."